


Ache

by danceswchopstck



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Artist Steve Rogers, Ficlet, Gen, M/M, Not Beta Read, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 23:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5605828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danceswchopstck/pseuds/danceswchopstck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Art, <em>real </em>art, doesn't always make Steve happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ache

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Scenes from a Marriage: A Month Of Sundays](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5366336) by [Speranza](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Speranza/pseuds/Speranza). 



> _scab: a temporary worker who crosses a picket line during a labor strike, replacing a striker in the workplace and thus weakening the power of those who are striking_

In the museum, Steve stares so long at one painting that Bucky comes to check on him. When he sees what Steve's been looking at, his face twists, briefly, and a tiny huff of breath escapes him.

"Why that one?" Bucky asks.

"Dunno," Steve says.

"Nostalgia? You miss getting punched?"

"I miss punching, sometimes. Like when Nat—"

"Yeah, but."

"But I'm not even sure which side I woulda been on, for this kinda fight."

Bucky glances at the card next to the painting: _The Scab, by Maynard Dixon, 1934._ "Oh."

"I mean, probably everybody in that painting is hungry, none of 'em 've got enough power to fix that, and the guys who are _trying_ to fix that are going three on one against the guy who isn't. Who maybe can't? In a situation like that, does the good of the many justify ganging up on the few?"

"Don't look at me, pal. Cap only comes out for supervillains and aliens, these days. Not poor schmucks just tryin' to get by."

"I dunno, maybe what I miss is the kind of fight where I know I'm doing the right thing. Or, I miss the _feeling_ of knowing what the right thing _is._ Most of the time, I don't think about it. But when I see something like this, I miss the certainty."

"And you wonder if you're doing enough, if you _did_ enough, if it'd be worth the risk to do a little more, but..."

"But it could cost us everything. I ain't risking your life or your freedom, Buck, or mine, either, probably. 'Specially not when I'm not even sure where to weigh in."

"But it gets to you, sometimes."

"Yeah, it does."

There's a pause. 

"Well, you gonna look at this one any longer?"

"No, I think I'm done."

"Anything else you just gotta see, here, today? I'm hungry."

"I could eat. Let's go."

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a long time since a fic idea grabbed me. This one came out of seeing the original Maynard Dixon painting, _The Scab,_ at the Oakland Museum of California. I wondered what Steve would think of it, and this ficlet is what happened when I started to write. 
> 
> I also wondered what Clint would think of the painting, but when I imagined Clint in a museum art gallery, he seemed to be paying attention to the people, not the art.
> 
> Through a process of trying to get from a feeling to a story, I ended with this ficlet about Steve and Bucky from Speranza's 4 Minute Window 'verse. All thanks to Speranza for her generous sharing of her stories and story settings!


End file.
